Source said the refusal of the BMP to issue the necessary permits for the companies would delay a project considered `crucial' for the next stage of IT-driven growth.

According to the regulatory system devised by BMP for OFC companies, permission for laying OFC would be granted on a case-by-case basis. The system also insists that companies laying OFC should produce a certificate from BMP ward engineers that they have completed more than 60 per cent of the work connected with laying of OFC in areas already allotted to them.Fresh areas would be allotted on the basis of certification from the ward engineers. The certification process insists that OFC companies should completely repair the areas dug up for the cable.

Though OFC companies have completed the work as per the stipulations laid down by the BMP, getting the certificate from the ward level engineers seems to be a difficult task.

"We are on a wild-goose chase in search of the ward level engineers as they are generally inaccessible," says a senior manager of a prominent OFC company. ``When we are racing against time to meet the targets fixed by our respective companies, this has become a cumbersome procedure,'' added another.

Reliance Infocom's OFC-laying project skids in Bangalore Instead of depending on ward engineers, BMP should appoint some independent rating agency to certify the finished work which could be later verified by the BMP officials, a senior manager of Reliance Infocom, said. "There will be some credible independent agencies who could undertake this job", he pointed out.Reliance Infocom and a consortium led by BPL are the leading players in OFC market in Bangalore. According to the schedule, Reliance was to complete the first phase of laying the cables by June in nearly 1500 km while the BPL-led consortium comprising Bharti, Spectranet, Spice, etc, also aims to cover more than 300 km around the same time.

But both Reliance and the BPL-led consortium so far have been able to complete only around 50 km in the city so far. Other cities have overtaken Bangalore although work began much later. In Delhi, work started almost one month after Bangalore but already over a 100 km of OFC is in place. The city of Ahmedabad has completed around 600 to 700 km. In Hyderabad and Chennai too work was going on at great speed, sources said.

But in Bangalore, work has come to a virtual standstill due to what companies feel are bureaucratic delays. The OFC network is expected to bring about a radical change in communications with its capacity to carry voice, data and video at an incredible speed.